What’s your first instinct when someone asks you “How’s work?” or “How’s business?”.

Take a minute to think about it.

I don’t know your answer, but I’ve always had this reflex tendency to respond with “Great!”. It’s what’s expected as an answer, right? I mean, we have to be doing great. Why are we even in the game if we’re not… winning?

Imagine, for a minute, someone who answers “Not so great” or “Sort of at a standstill”. Who says stuff like that??

But then, if you think about it, we do go through stages ever so frequently which are best described as “not so great”, right?

A few days ago a good friend messaged me after a few years. As you can guess, he asked me, “How’s work?”

And I caught myself pre-typing “Great!” in my mind, but thankfully decided to not actually type it out.

Instead, I wrote back: “Okay. In the midst of one of those cycles where we’re building/adding another layer of “foundations”. In-app subscriptions. More podcasts. Redesign. New plans. I think wiring all of them together will lead to the next wave of growth and innovation. I’ve learnt to see things like a garden/farm. Gotta go through annual cycles of tilling, sowing, watering, growth, harvesting, etc. 😊”

I felt strangely satisfied at having articulated myself in this manner. And in becoming more consciously aware of the fact that one of the best ways to look at our professional lives—whether as employees, entrepreneurs, or leaders—is farming.

Dear reader, good morning. If you’re reading this on a Sunday morning or early afternoon, I hope you’re soaking it in. For those of you whose windows open out into a flowering Gulmohar tree, I envy you. If you have a nice and quiet corner or room where you can draw down the blinds and listen to music from a pair of well-placed stereo speakers, I envy you too. I’ll also envy you if you have a space or room you can call your library, filled with enough books to become your refuge on weekends.

Here’s what we have for you today:

1. “How is work?”
2. On not making the same mistakes 🎙️
3.